Surveys show that Ukraine has fundamentally changed. Today, up to 90% of citizens in every region, including the south and east, support Euro-Atlantic integration, says Anton Hrushetskyi, Executive Director of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), UkrInform reports. 

After years of war with Russia, Ukrainian society has overcome longstanding geopolitical divisions.

“We have bridged the main divides. Issues that once split us, NATO, the EU, language, and attitudes toward Russia, now unite us,” the sociologist notes.

Key findings from KIIS:

• Support for NATO and the EU has surged to 80–90% across all regions
• There is a broad consensus that Russia is the aggressor
• Ukrainian remains the sole state language, though one-third still favor optional study of Russian

Researchers emphasize that this is not a fleeting trend but a lasting transformation rooted in 2022. However, they caution that “the work is far from complete,” as some politicians continue to exploit language issues for electoral advantage.

“Society is evolving — Russian is no longer part of our identity but is perceived as just another foreign language,” Hrushetskyi adds.

Earlier, a poll showed that a large majority of Ukrainians, 84%, believe there is no systematic discrimination or restriction of rights against Russian-speaking citizens in Ukraine. Among Russian-speaking Ukrainians themselves, 81% share this view.

The poll’s findings reject Russian propaganda that has systematically fabricated claims of discrimination against Russian speakers in Ukraine to justify its aggression. 

A neighborhood in Springfield, Oregon, on June 10 renamed a local street from "Kiev" to "Kyiv" — a move initiated by members of the Kyiv Independent's global community.

Photos shared with the Kyiv Independent show the newly installed blue-and-yellow street sign, reflecting both the correct Ukrainian transliteration and the national colors of Ukraine.

The change comes amid a broader effort by Ukraine and its allies worldwide to move away from Russian-derived place names and honor Ukraine's linguistic and political independence.

"We're very proud of our city (Springfield, OR, U.S.) for supporting our efforts to make this happen," one community member told the Kyiv Independent.

The spelling "Kiev," pronounced "kee-yev," is the Russian version of Ukraine's capital. "Kyiv" (pronounced "keev") is the correct Ukrainian form, based on the native pronunciation and Latin transliteration.

For decades, global usage favored Russian-based spellings, a legacy of the Soviet Union's dominance and the widespread misconception that Ukrainian cities and culture were merely extensions of Russia. Even after Ukraine declared independence in 1991, much of the international community continued using names like Kiev, Lvov, and Odessa — all Russified versions.

That began to change after Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and its war in eastern Ukraine. The full-scale invasion in 2022 accelerated the shift, prompting governments, media outlets, and advocacy groups to adopt Ukrainian transliterations such as Kyiv, Lviv, and Odesa.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has promoted the change through campaigns like #KyivNotKiev, arguing that the use of correct names respects Ukraine's sovereignty and resists Russian imperial narratives.

Russian leaders, including President Vladimir Putin, have long emphasized historical ties to Kyiv in their justification for expansionist policies. Renaming streets and using correct spellings is one way communities abroad are pushing back.

Kyiv, not Kiev — How Ukrainians reclaimed their capital’s name

English speakers the world over long referred to Ukraine’s capital as Kiev, not realizing they were using the Russian name for the city.

The Kyiv IndependentAnna Belokur